A Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t make it up. We had just finished talking about his role as a London-based superhero when actor and comedian Brett Goldstein came to the rescue in a real-life drama. As we walked to St Pancras station, a man running for a train slipped and head-butted the pavement. In a flash Goldstein was at his side, albeit without changing into his Lycra pants and cape.
SuperBob is an independent British film that is screened at the fourth London Comedy Film Festival in January. The action all takes place over one day in south London. Goldstein — a hard-working stand-up who is also known for his role in Ricky Gervais’s C4 series Derek — co-wrote it and describes it as “a sweet romantic comedy, not a gritty dark British kitchen-sink drama”.
One of the film’s main attractions is Catherine Tate, who plays SuperBob’s boss, Theresa, an M to his James Bond. The film was initially intended as a short but then, like a flying caped crusader, took off. “We [Goldstein, director Jon Drever and writer William Bridges] spent a couple of years developing the script, which was then put in front of Catherine,” says Goldstein (pictured with Tate, picture by Matt Humphrey).
“We thought, ‘no chance’ but amazingly she really liked it and agreed to do the film. We couldn’t believe our luck. Catherine and I just clicked from day one.” They also managed to secure actor David Harewood, to take on the role of a Paxmanesque TV anchor in SuperBob.
On the financial side it helped that they had a champion in Robert Jones, who produced the 1995 film The Usual Suspects and the current proof about the Metropolitan Police, Babylon, on C4. “He wanted to meet me and work with me and he got on board. That made it look more serious. All of a sudden, after three years in development, we made the film in three weeks.”
Read more about Goldstein and SuperBob here.